Bellingham rues England's 'second game fever' after Ghana draw / Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL - AFP
Bellingham rues England's 'second game fever' after Ghana draw
Jude Bellingham said England suffered a recurrence of "second game fever" as they were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw by Ghana at the World Cup on Tuesday.
Nico O'Reilly hit the bar late on and Harry Kane blazed over the rebound as Ghana's dogged defensive display forced England to settle for a point in the Group L game in Foxborough.
They were perhaps fortunate to avoid a worse outcome after Ezri Konsa's clumsy challenge on Ghana forward Prince Adu in the area went unpunished.
It is the fourth consecutive major tournament where England have started with a win before drawing their second match, which was not lost on Bellingham after he earned his 50th cap against the Black Stars.
"Very frustrating. Like, second game fever, you know, the same as always with us," said the Real Madrid midfielder.
"It feels like in all the tournaments I've been to, it's been the same, a decent performance to start and a good win.
"And then just the second one frustrated a little bit with how they defended, how they set up... credit to them. They got exactly out of the game what they played for, couldn't quite break them down."
England are still heavy favourites to win the group and face a third-placed team in the last 32, with Panama their next opponents in New Jersey on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel's side are level on four points with Ghana but have the better goal difference after their 4-2 victory over Croatia last week.
Bellingham insisted there was no cause for concern in the England camp following the Ghana result and said the focus would now turn to Panama.
England thrashed Panama 6-1 in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, a match in which Kane scored a hat-trick.
"It's important for us not to get too negative, not to get too het up on it," said Bellingham.
"No worries, no stress, no drama at all in there."
Bellingham believes England's exposure to different styles of teams will leave them well-equipped for the latter stages of the tournament.
"We're not only going to play teams from Europe or what we're used to. It's amazing to be able to play so early a strong opponent from Africa who pose completely different threats," he said.
"You saw that today. They were exceptional on the counter-attack. They always kept that little bit of fear in us when we were going forward.
"But part of the beautiful thing of the World Cup is that you get to play against teams, players, styles of play that you don't normally get to play against.
"It will stand us in good stead going into the rest of the tournament, for sure."
Y.Ingvar--MP
